Sacking the City
by JHLZ.NTL
Summary: The platinum for the giant mech had to come from somewhere. This will be a multi-episode rewrite that is be mostly Suyin-centric ending with her also having to atone for all of her bs] Sorry if the first chapter starts off really canon.


**_This isn't about love_**  
 ** _This isn't about hate_**  
 ** _This is about the need to dominate_**

 ** _Because no matter how much you love someone,_**  
 ** _You still want to have things your own way_**

 **Quote Inspired by Chuck Palahniuk's Lullaby (yet isn't actually in the novel or anywhere other than one of samthorp's sketches of Kuvira and Suyin on DA and tumblr.**

 **Fic inspired by:**

 **~a bunch of Sam Thorp's drawings and Post-LOK fan comics one of them covering when the Beifong Family returns to Zaofu and find the city nearly completely stripped of its platinum "When we were fighting that giant mecha; we were fighting our house!" one of the twins exclaimed upon noticing that even the door handles were missing.**

 **~an exchange with fulcrum101 about how real wars go versus what Nickelodeon was allowed to show...**

 **~an essay on tumblr in which Kuvira never really wanted to hurt Suyin**

 **~a bunch of other essays about how Suyin is kinda a bitch...**

 **I am planning on this multi-episode rewrite to be very Suyin-Kuvira-centric starting from the Battle of Zaofu and going until probably after the series ends, but not every episode will be covered.**

 **Please read and leave feedback if you have time to!**

* * *

Suyin flung the metal strip around the guard's mouth without a second thought. He tried to pull it off, but Suyin's grip on the metal was stronger. She was crushing his jaw.

"Mom! Are you sure this is a good idea?" Wei asked nudging her on the shoulder lightly. Her focus broke and she remembered the original intent of their mission this evening as she sent a cable around the guard's leg and dragged him into the bush where she hid with her twin babies.

"It is our only option," Suyin replied securing the guard to the tree, binding him in cables from his ankle to his neck and keeping the blundfold and gag on his face.

"Are you sure this will work? Even without Kuvira, they could still crush us," Wing asked. The fear in his voice could not be more evident. It pained Suyin to see her son so frightened, but she figured since he was getting older, he would have to toughen up eventually. Hell, she was pulling off shit like this when she was barely thirteen.

"Most of this army has been forced into service by Kuvira," Suyin explained to her twin boys. "If we take her out, they'll have no reason to fight. Tonight, we end her reign of terror." Suyin decides lifting a black hood over her head.

They snuck into the camp easily past guards whom, though rather adept at metalbending, were never trained in seismic sense. Toph made it very clear that she wanted to keep that skill within the family. Anyone else who wanted to learn it would have to prove themselves worthy earthbenders by being strong enough to figure it out on their own.

The three Beifongs stopped just one row of tanks away from the Empress's tent in the center of the camp. With a stomp in the ground, Suyin scanned the vicinity with enough range to see inside the metal enclosure containing their target, sleeping.

"She's alone in there. Now's our chance," Suyin said to her sons, tunnelling in.

Kuvira's defenses were pitiful, Suyin thought to herself as she bent a cable around the woman's form lying in the bed in the center of a rather sparsely furnished, yet large metal tent.

"Please, don't hurt me!" a different, yet equally familiar voice shrieked.

"Zhu Li?" Suyin gasped ripping her hood off her head. No! It can't be! Suyin thought to herself taking a step back. Kuvira knew! She thought as the central pole receeded into the ground and the metal walls of the tent dropped down. They were surrounded.

"I knew you'd try a sneak attack," Kuvira said stepping out between two of the dozen mechatanks that surrounded the metal tent where Zhu Li had been pretending to sleep. "You were afraid to step up and lead the Earth Kingdom when you had the chance. You were afraid to join me when I became the leader, and now, you're afraid of a fair fight. You've always been a coward. Take them!"

"A fair fight? A FAIR FIGHT? You're the coward who HIDES behind platinum suits. Face me like a REAL metalbender!" Suyin said unwinding the cable from around Zhu Li and whipping it towards Kuvira just as the mechs shot lightning at all of them. Suyin dove forward and evaded the beam, but neither of her son's though younger were quick enough. As a mother, their screams of pain hurt even more than what she went through birthing those babies. She winced, temporarily paralyzed by the sound, praying to the gods for mercy on their behalf. But that moment proved costly as Kuvira bent the metal belt right off her old mentor's waist and roped it around her neck. Suyin's eyes shot up to see kuvira holding the whip Suyin had just cracked in her direction.

"I am not the one hiding behind platinum domes in a platinum mansion with a perfect little family and I am not the one hiding under a black hood while attempting to assassinate a defenseless young woman in her SLEEP!" Kuvira said throwing Suyin towards her two semi-conscious sons.

Suyin looked up angrily at her fomer protege, with the same expression she had when she scolded the younger for misbehaving, only this time, the girl did not bow and walk away. She remained standing and watched as the mechatanks raised their giant tazers again for a second bout of torture while Kuvira watched, stone-faced.

* * *

"Korra, you have to go stop Su before she does something terrible!" Jinora insisted after she and Korra found out from Baatar of Suyin's plan to assassinate their common enemy in the middle of her camp.

"Stop her, we should be helping her!" Opal argued.

"We have no idea where your mom is, or what her plan is. If we go charging into Kuvira's camp, we could get them all captured, or worse. All we can do now is wait," Korra replied firmly.

Opal let out a heavy sigh, folded her arms, and tapped her foot on the pavement impatiently waiting.

Just then, the loudspeakers installed all over the city came on.

"Attention citizens of Zaofu. Your honorable and glorious leader, Suyin Beifong, attempted to attack me tonight while I slept, ignoring the terms of our truce. Fortunately for her, and all of you, I now have her and her assault team in custody," Kuvira announced formally with the most subtle tone of pride coming through her voice.

"NO!" Opal breathed.

"Rest assured that I will not take revenge on the peaceful citizens of Zaofu, so long as your remaining representatives meet me outside the city at dawn to offer their full and unconditional surrender of your city. That is all. Sleep well, and representatives, I will see you in the morning," Kuvira finished, tuning out of the intercom system with a click.

"Korra, you can't let Kuvira get away with this! We have to go break out Mom and my brothers!" Opal shrieked balling her fists and stepping forward towards the young Avatar.

Jinora stepped between them, looking at Opal accusingly. "You swore an oath of non-aggression when you became an airbender. You can't just attack Kuvira!"

"I don't care about the oath! I have to save my family!"

"Maybe this is why the Air Nomads were raised by monks and NOT their respective families. Your love for yours blinds you from true neutrality!" Jinora thought aloud.

"How could you say that?! I will NEVER turn my back on my family," Opal yelled back.

"No, Jinora is right. Your mom attacked the camp. Kuvira was just defending herself," Korra said putting a hand on Opal's shoulder, diverting the young woman's attention away from Jinora.

"'Defending herself'? She was going to attack our city! I can't believe you're refusing to fight! You of all people!" Opal huffed.

Just then, their argument was interrupted by the appearance of Ikki and Meelo emerging from a nearby guest house. "Why is that loudspeaker lady talking when I'm trying to sleep?"

"Korra, what are we going to do?" Baatar asked the Avatar ignoring the young airbender's question.

"Jinora and I will go talk to Kuvira at dawn, and, maybe, we can work something out. I promise, I'll do everything I can to keep the peace," Korra decided.

"I'll go with you," Opal added quickly.

"We'll go, too!" Ikki chimed in jumping up energetically.

"No! Dad told us to find Korra, and we did. Now you need to stay safe," Jinora snapped at Ikki.

"Come on! Let us help!" Ikki begged with her hands clasped together tightly.

"I can't risk anyone else being captured. You can stay with Baatar and Huan while I work things out with Kuvira. [To Baatar, behind the two children.] Make sure they get back to Tenzin if anything goes wrong," Korra ordered.

"That's not fair! Opal gets to go!"

"I need to go to make sure my mom is okay and if there is any chance for… saving her!" Opal replied.

"Aw, man! When am I gonna see some action?" Meelo whined.

"Soon, I promise," Baatar said placing a hand on Meelo's shoulder, surprising everybody.

"Really?" Meelo asked turning to the softspoken husband of Suyin.

"Yes, we have some movers in the house we can watch before going back to bed," Baatar suggested.

"That is not the same!" Meelo complained.

"Just be grateful already! Mr. Baatar, may I join?" Ikki asked following the two towards the main house on the estate.

"Of course you may, Ikki," Baatar said extending a hand in her direction as well, leading them away, leaving Opal still fuming, Jinora a bit bereft, and Korra more anxious and apprehensive than ever before.

The weather was absolutely perfect the next morning. Visibility went as far as the eye could see without a single cloud or particle of smoke in sight. The slight breeze provided the perfect amount of cooling to the uniformed, armored soldiers ready to put up a fight.

Emerging from the domed city were only three people. Korra, Jinora, and Opal.

"Release my mother and brother's now!" Opal yelled impatiently as they came within earshot with their enemy.

"If Su agrees to bow to me and turn over Zaofu, she and the rest of your family will not be harmed," Kuvira said with her hands folded behind her back patiently.

"Never! I'll never bow to you!" Suyin yelled from where she stood trapped, enclosed up to her neck in a platinum box.

"There must be some way for us to resolve this!" Korra insisted stepping in front of a distraught Opal.

"I've already laid out my terms, and I think they were VERY reasonable. After all it was Su who did try to assassinate me during our peaceful negotiations and I am STILL offering her precious city mercy," Kuvira replied cooly.

"You call bringing your ENTIRE army to threaten our ONE city 'peaceful'? Wei yelled in disbelief.

Kuvira ignored him.

"Where's Bolin? I know he would never go along with this!" Opal yelled.

"Bolin is with my fiancé, working on something very important. But, I assure you, he's on board with every one of my plans like a good, loyal citizen of the Earth Kingdom. You two have been apart for some time. I guess you don't realize how much Bolin has grown up. Unlike you, he sees the GOOD in what we are doing. Now turn over Zaofu!"

"I can't just let you take the city!" Korra yelled.

"Avatar Korra, you are interfering with internal Earth Empire business, and letting your personal feelings get in the way of reason. Zaofu cannot continue to rule itself as an autonomous state. They have been hoarding their riches and technology too long. I'm here to distribute those resources fairly throughout the nation. This is about equality and as a citizen of the Southern Water Tribe, you have no place, here." Kuvira stressed sternly.

"You don't care about equality! This is about control!" Opal yelled. She turned to Korra. "Just take her down! You know it's the right thing to do! You have to stop this!"

"The only way you're going to keep me from marching into Zaofu is if you physically stop me. Now what are you going to do surrender or fight?" Kuvira asked bravely.

"It looks like you're not giving me a choice," Korra declared.

A smirk broke across the Great Uniter's face.

"Fine," Kuvira said turning to her troops. "I want you all to know that I would never ask any of you to do something that I'm not willing to do myself. So, rather than risk your lives, I will fight the Avatar one-on-one. Korra, if you win, then you can do whatever you want with Zaofu. But after I beat you, I want you out of my business and MY NATION for good. I'm the one who brought peace to the Earth Empire, while you abandoned it along with the rest of your Avatar duties. You're not relevant here anymore."

"Fine. You wanna fight the Avatar? Then let's finish this, right here, right now!" Korra said bending into a fighting stance.

"Are you really ready to fight her?" Jinora asked with great concern on her face.

"Just stay back and let me handle this." Korra said with a sudden swell of determination. "It's been a while, but I got a lot of pent-up rage."

"Don't mess around!" Opal advised. [Quick cut to Kuvira's stony face; voice-over.] "Kuvira is too good and has been practicing for years! You just got the last bit of mercury out of your body days ago. Just go into the Avatar State and get it over with!"

"No, I'm only going to use that as a last resort," Korra replied to Opal.

"I trust your judgement, Korra, but please, be careful." Jinora said touching Korra's shoulder reassuringly before taking a few steps back, dragging an enraged Opal with her.

"Use whatever you want: all the elements; the Avatar State; anything you need!" Kuvira said with an almost playful smile on her face. "I know you're a little rusty."

"Enough talk!" Korra yelled.

The first misstep the Avatar made was firing the first shot. The second was the kip up that landed her a rock straight to the bottom of her ribcage. The distraction gave Kuvira enough time to slap a metal strip around the Avatar's ankle and wrist (just as Suyin had done to the guard's eyes and mouth) and send her flying through the air.

"Looks like the Avatar's a little off her game!" Kuvira said bobbing sligtly on the balls of her feet.

"Don't let her get you frustrated! She wants you to make a mistake!" Opal yelled.

Korra went on the offensive yet again, but remained too flat footed allowing Kuvira to easily uproot her stance with a subtle slide of the earth beneath the Avatar's feet. A third mistake. Korra got up faster than before, adrenaline coursing through her veins as she tried using airbending in her next offensive maneuver, but Kuvira was faster, weaving through the extremely predictable strikes effortlessly catching Korra's fourth mistake. In a perfectly timmed attack, Kuvira slapped a blindfold on the Avatar and chucked a rock up at her chin causing Korra to fall again. Tearing the metal from her face, Korra looked up at her opponent, her confidence in the fight visibly weakening.

The fight continued. A fifth mistake enabled Kuvira to land a blow on the Avatar with the biggest boulder seen today. Korra jumped up again, but just as quickly, Kuvira manages to ensnare her wrists in metal and slam her back down arms then head first into the ground.

"Come on, Avatar, get up! Show me what you've got!" Kuvira yelled with a tone that expressed both amusement and boredom.

"We have to help her!" Opal cried rushing forward.

"No! Stay back! I can handle this!" Korra insisted.

As soon as she was on her feet again, Kuvira spun her around almost comically and kicked the Avatar right in the ass, knocking her on her face again.

 _Spirirts! Why did I have to teach her to fight so well?_ Suyin thought to herself. "You have to go into the Avatar State! Do it!" she yelled desperately. Korra got up, eyes glowing and with strength but lacking finesse, she blew Kuvira back yards with a powerful air blast. With the power of the Avatar State, Korra finally had the upper hand in the fight. Just when she was about to finish the job, her trauma returned, and she faltered, dropping the boulder she held above her head and falling from the height of the air funnel she had been riding.

"I don't understand. We got the poison out; what's wrong with her?" Opal gasped in disbelief.

"I knew you were weak!" Kuvira said marching towards the limp, Avatar, lifting her by her wrists before slamming her down again to prop up in an earthen mound.

Kuvira strode triumphantly over the Avatar and bent blades out of the metal strips stacked on her sleeves and rose them beside her own head, eyeing the Avatar like a live holiday turkey, waiting for a good, proper beheading.

Just before the Great Uniter could finish the deed, Opal and Jinora intervened sending Kuvira flying through the air towards her soldiers.

"You broke our agreement!" Kuvira yelled wild with rage. "Attack them and the rest of that damned city! Show NO MERCY! After all, they were the ones who wanted to play dirty when I TRIED TO BRING PEACE!" Kuvira yelled.

The troops charged forward as Jinora and Opal moved to protect Korra with a large tornado, Opal with tears in her eyes as she saw her mother and brothers trapped in those platinum boxes, unable to do anything.

"Keep them back, I'm calling for help!" Jinora said handing off full control of the tornado to Opal as she bent her spirit from her body to go warn her siblings of the incoming danger, and to plea for a rescue.

Minutes later, Ikki and Meelo arrived on the back of Pepper, Jinora ordering their departure as soon as Korra was secured in the saddle of the sky bison.

"We have to save them too!" Opal said looking over at her mother and brothers.

"Opal, get out of here, we'll be fine! Just go!" Suyin yelled hiding her tears whenever in public.

"I'll be back for you! I love you!" Opal cried as Ikki and Jinora held her back from jumping.

Kuvira turned to her army raising one fist in victory. "ZAOFU IS OURS!" she yelled to a massive crowd cheering.

The troups marched through the city rounding up every single citizen and gathering them in the central square so that they could see see first hand, the official banners of the Earth Empire fall over the statue of the revered Toph Beifong in front of city hall.  
"Bring the citizens of Zaofu to kneel before the Great Uniter! All who pledge their loyalty to me will keep their freedom and will be dealt with fairly as full citizens of the Earth Empire. All who refuse will be imprisoned as traitors, just like Su Beifong and her sons. Now bow to me!" Kuvira yelled with the strength of her army containing the terrified crowd.

In unison, almost every man, woman, and child fell, touching their heads to the ground before their former comrade. Only two remained defiant. Baatar Senior, and his son Huan, the only remaining members of the Beifong Family (save for Junior) in Zaofu that weren't yet bound in platinum from the neck down.  
"Bow to her! Do it! She is your rightful leader!" Baatar Junior yelled at his father furiously.

The man simply turned his head in shame, disgraced by his son's new allegiance. "I am so disappointed in you, Junior," he said with great sadness and no hate.

"Take them away!" Baatar Junior, irately ordered some guards.

"Get your hands off me! You're crushing my individuality!" Huan protested shaking the soldiers grip from his arms, and going willingly in whatever direction he was being lead.

"All hail the Great Uniter! May she reign for ten thousand years!" Baatar Junior yelled raising his hand in a salute as the crowd reluctantly cheered.

Suyin's face fell as she came to terms with loosing her city.

* * *

Later that evening, Kuvira took up lodgings in the old estate she used to call her house. It was never truly a home, no, home was where the heart lived and Kuvira's heart had long been shattered by the very woman who fed it.

"Are you sure, there's no way they survived?" She asked her fiance of the mad genius, Varrick.

"Positive. But I think I can replicate his work with the spirit vines and get us back on track. I'll just need an assistant."

Kuvira looked over to Zhu Li and smiled.

"How would you like to help Baatar build the most powerful weapon the world has ever seen?" Kuvira askes.

"It would be my honor, Great Uniter." Zhu Li replied bowing, and backing out of the garden, never once turning away.

Once Zhu Li was gone, leaving Kuvira alone with Baatar Junior, Kuvira spoke again. "Begin dismantling the domes, and…. Bring your mother and brothers to me."

"As you wish, Kuvira," Baatar Junior said obediently leaving immediately to execute her orders diligently.

* * *

 **Kuvira summoning Suyin and her children for some light entertainment because I highly doubt she'd just let Suyin just chill comfortably with her family in that wooden crate that entire time between conquering Zaofu, and Lin, Opal, Bolin and Toph busting them out.**

 **I wanted to show Suyin slightly "unhinging" and unintentionally slightly crushing the guard's jaw. Other than that, this chapter was pretty cannon with some extra dialogue, emotion, and the omission of Varrick and Bolin. It will become more... deviant from the cannon story line very quickly though, so please bear with me and hit me up with all of your lovely critiques!**


End file.
